Ford has earned its place because of its plans to collaborate with other innovators to create the next generation of connected, electrified and autonomous vehicles. Ford is also working with cities to help design smarter, more efficient transportation systems. Ford vehicles are wirelessly connected to the Internet today, and these connections require a dependable wired Internet backbone to close the data loop and unlock new services and experiences for customers, the company saids in a statement Monday.

Dr. Ken Washington, Chief Technology Officer of Ford Motor Company, will oversee the initiative. Washington fronts Ford's worldwide research organization, looking after the development and implementation of the company's technology strategy and plans, and playing a key role in the company's expansion into emerging mobility opportunities.

"The future is about connecting people in new ways. Having robust, resilient and diversified Internet infrastructure is essential to the success of Ford's technological innovations, and we are proud to be partnering with IEIC as the Founding Automotive Member and taking a leadership role globally," Dr. Washington said Monday.

Henrico, Virginia has developed White Oak Technology Park, a master-planned high-tech manufacturing center that is optimally designed to meet the scale and digital speed requirements of a range of tech industries. Home to mega-data center campus of Facebook and the QTS Richmond Network Access Point (NAP), Henrico is experiencing rapid growth in the data center and connectivity sectors with the new MAREA and BRUSA subsea cables which are accessible from the NAP in Henrico. Henrico County Manager, John A. Vithoulkas will be representing the county at IEIC. As the county's chief administrative officer, Vithoulkas is responsible for all general government operations and an approved annual fiscal plan of more than $1 billion in operating and capital budgets.

"Henrico County is honored to be the founding government representative on the Internet Ecosystem Innovation Committee," Vithoulkas said Monday. "For communities to thrive in the 21st century, government must be prepared to work alongside industries, academic institutions and other visionary partners to develop and support the critical technology infrastructure that allows instantaneous, global connectivity. This infrastructure is as essential to our development and prosperity today as ports, railroads and highways have been for hundreds of years. Henrico is thriving as the home of the QTS Richmond Network Access Point, which offers the world's fastest connectivity for data. I am excited to see where the next innovations in technology will take us."

DE-CIX provides premium interconnection services and operates a range of carrier and data center-neutral Internet Exchanges (IX, or Internet Exchange Point, IXP) in Europe, the Middle East, North America, and India. Founded in 1995, DE-CIX's IX in Frankfurt is the world's leading interconnection platform, managing close to 7 Terabits per second peak traffic. In addition to Frankfurt, DE-CIX offers interconnection services at four more Internet Exchanges in Germany: in Hamburg, Munich, Dusseldorf, and Berlin as BCIX powered by DE-CIX. In 2012, DE-CIX took abroad its specific know-how and experience in establishing and operating IXs across the planet and now operates interconnection platforms in the following metro markets: In New York and Dallas, Dubai, Madrid, Lisbon, Marseille, Istanbul, Palermo, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, and Chennai. In addition, DE-CIX partners with MSK-IX in Moscow.

"DE-CIX's DNA is about offering easy interconnection to our customers, anywhere they need it on the planet. Neutrality is at the heart of what we do every day. Becoming a founding member of the IEIC - among other global digital leaders - and supporting the effort in promoting Internet diversity and resilience, just goes in line with how we understand digitization - now and in the future," Ivo Ivanov, CEO of DE-CIX International said Monday.

Internet Ecosystem Innovation Committee (IEIC) was established June 2019 as an independent committee with no affiliation or influence to any company nor the concept that the committee has been established to create commercial relationships between the companies. In regards to commercial arrangements between companies, these situations must strictly follow any guidelines a member company uses to evaluate and select service providers or partners independent of the IEIC committee. The IEIC is a working committee to benefit the Internet and regional communities with no commercial oriented relationships between members allowed.

The IEIC says it will partner with like-minded communities around the world to create new and disparate Internet nexus points through partnership with local municipalities, academia and business. IEIC is not tied to a particular region and the group will look to enable our charter in multiple locales globally. In each community the IEIC will incubate local chapters to sustain initiatives long-term with a member of the core IEIC acting as a sponsor to assist local chapters with support resources and expertise. Identifying the unique catalysts for the specific areas across different geographies, will be the key for the development and growth.

By utilizing innovation and influence within the IEIC's collective participants and industries, the IEIC says it will geographically harden Internet infrastructure ensuring the Internet will continue to stimulate economic development opportunities in communities around the globe propelling the digital economy on a local and global basis.

IEIC announced Monday that InterGlobix Magazine will be its official media partner. In the upcoming issue of InterGlobix Magazine there will be a special editorial coverage on IEIC highlighting the benefits of Internet diversity and resiliency from each of the industries represented by the founding members. InterGlobix Magazine is industry's one-of-its-kind premier publication focused on Data Centers, Connectivity and Internet Infrastructure.

"With the addition of Ford, Henrico County and DE-CIX as IEIC founding members, we are pleased to welcome the global leaders of their respective industries to IEIC. Each founding member brings their unique strengths and strategic value to IEIC, that will propel further IEIC's vision of driving global Internet diversity and resiliency, resulting in economic growth in various regions around the globe," Clint Heiden, Founder of IEIC said Monday.

"InterGlobix is honored to extend its partnership with IEIC. As a founding member of IEIC, we look forward to collaborating with the other founding members and executing the mission of the committee. Additionally, we are proud to announce that our premier publication, InterGlobix Magazine is the official media partner of IEIC," said Vinay Nagpal, Secretary and Executive Director of IEIC and President of InterGlobix.